Hook’s Wisconsin 15 year old Cheddar Cheese. The oldest cheddar on the market. Smooth, not bitter. No acidic bite. Very flavorful

Manchego cheese, officially Queso Manchego, has grown steadily in popularity over the last several years. Produced in the La Mancha region of Spain and made from the milk of Manchego sheep, this cheese, with it’s firm yet buttery texture and flavor, is a perfect partner to fresh fruit, breads and crackers, and a huge array of wines and beers

We’ll finish up the Blue Cheese series with two Gorgonzolas and an exceptional sheep’s milk blue plus some summer grilling recipes and a quick and easy blue cheese dip.

Wisconsin produces 82% of all Blue Cheese consumed in the U.S.A. The 8 plants that produce these cheeses have doubled their production and more and more you will find Wisconsin’s Blue Cheeses on salads and grilled meats, and used in a variety of culinary foods such as in sauces and pasta.

Choosing the right blue cheese from the many available can be bewildering at best. Ages vary from 30 to 60 days and up to 1 year. Milk choices include traditional cow’s milk, sheep’s milk (Hook’s Little Boy Blue) and goat’s milk (Carr Valley Billy Goat Blue). We are going to start a 3 part survey of Wisconsin blue cheeses with these two cheese makers: Hook’s in Mineral Point and Roth Kase in Monroe.

Here are four Italian and Italian style cheeses that you may not be familiar with or may be under-utilizing in your kitchen. The first two are Italian soft-rind smear-ripened cheeses and the third and fourth are American versions of two incredibly good melting and table cheeses.

Classic imported Swiss cheeses are worth getting to know if you are unfamiliar with their great flavors and their variety of culinary uses. The following cheeses are made from partially skimmed unpasteurized cow’s milk and aged, like Gruyere, 3 to 18 months.

Creating a perfect cheese tray is both easy and fun. Here are a few simple guidelines to get you started

Wisconsin captured 42 gold medals out of 76 cheese and butter categories judged at the U.S. Cheese Championship! Entries came from all over the country with Katie Hedrich of LaClare Farms in Chilton, WI taking top honors for her Evalon, a hard goat’s milk cheese

Our featured Irish cheeses at Jim’s Cheese Block this weekend (March 12 & 13, 2011) will include Kerrygold Blarney Castle, Dubliner Aged Irish Cheddar, Kerrygold Irish Swiss, and Irish Mature Cheddar